The present invention relates to automated abrading equipment and abrasive articles therefor.
FIG. 1 illustrates one prior art automated abrading arrangement. A drill or other automated device 10 is provided and a pad 12 is mounted into the chuck of the drill. A releasable fastening surface is provided on the exterior face 11 of the pad to permit releasable fastening of an abrasive article 14, such as a sanding or buffing disc, etc.
Conventional releasable attachment techniques for abrasive articles include both releasable adhesive and hook and loop, e.g., Velcro(copyright), arrangements. Abrasive articles that are attached with releasable adhesive typically have one face 15 on which the abrasive material is provided and another face 13 on which the releasable adhesive is provided. When in use, for example, in an auto body shop, a repair person must use many discs of different abrasive grades, using a coarser grade first and then switching to finer grades. The abrasive articles (e.g., sandpaper discs) having different grades are often laid (adhesive side up) on the floor about a repair person so that the repair person can readily switch between them. In this scenario, the abrasive article tends to become fouled by people stepping on the exposed adhesive side and the settling out of dust or other debris from the sanding or buffing operations. These and related types of fouling cause the adhesive material to cease functioning properly before the abrasive material on the other side is spent.
Abrasive articles with hook or loop backing, on the other hand, do not foul as readily as those backed with adhesive material. Hook or loop backed abrasive articles, however, tend to cost significantly more than adhesive backed articles. For example, approximate current prices for adhesive backed sanding discs and hook and loop backed sanding discs are $0.17 and $0.88, respectively.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an adapter that when used with an abrasive article provides both reduced cost abrading and is slow to foul.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adapter that adapts between hook or loop or other non-adhesive releasable attachment on a first surface and releasable adhesive based attachment on a second surface.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an adapter that has magnetic properties and can be readily maintained away from fouling sources or otherwise arranged for ready use.
These and related objects of the present invention are achieved by an apparatus for use with automated abrading equipment as described herein.
In one embodiment, the present invention includes an adapter that on one side permits adhesive mounting of an abrasive article and on the other side permits non-adhesive mounting to automated abrading equipment. The adapter may include magnetic material and the non-adhesive mounting surface may contain hook and/or loop like structures. Both hook and loop like structures may be provided in adjacent and preferably balanced sections to permit use with either a hook or loop based pad.
The attainment of the foregoing and related advantages and features of the invention should be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art, after review of the following more detailed description of the invention taken together with the drawings.